Factory Yamaha rider adamant he’s in a better place than what the times indicate.
Image: Supplied.
Alex Lowes has described pre-season testing at Phillip Island as strange ahead of this weekend’s 2019 FIM Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) opener at the Australian seaside venue.
Lowes completed this week’s test in P9, 0.843s off pace-setter and WorldSBK newcomer Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), which is a contrary position to the top three pace he displayed at the official tests in Jerez and Portimao.
Despite just making the top 10, the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team rider is adamant he’s entering the weekend with a positive feeling in his YZF-R1, stating he’s in a better position than what his times indicate.
“The feeling is quite good going into the first race after the test here at Phillip Island,” Lowes explained. “It’s always a strange test here, as it’s fairly easy to do one fast lap, but it’s the last half of the race that is critical at this track.
“So we spent a lot of time at the test working to improve tyre endurance, trying not to work the rear tyre in particular too hard, with positive results. The second day in Australia was interrupted by what was a bit of a strange crash at turn one, which I was lucky to walk away from but, overall, preseason testing has gone really well.
“There are still a couple of areas in which we can improve but we’re in a much better position going into this weekend than our lap times from the second test day would indicate. Now we just need to keep working, especially with the tyres, if we are to start the season with good results here in Australia.”
Practice for the WorldSBK and WorldSSP categories kicks off tomorrow, while the opening round of the Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK), which will run in conjunction with the world championship this weekend, commences today with the initial practice sessions.
Australian contender makes first official outing with SAG Racing Team.
Image: Supplied.
Remy Gardner has lodged a top 10 time on the opening day of Moto2 World Championship testing at Jerez in Spain, marking his first official outing with ONEXOX TKKR SAG Racing Team.
The Australian, who completed a private test in Spain earlier this week, wound up 10th on the timesheets with a 1m41.802s lap-time, 0.656s off pace-setter Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46).
It’s positive start for the number 87 in his transition to the squad and Triumph machinery, as he endeavours to build on the solid results he started to haul in at the conclusion of last year.
This year marks a new era in the Moto2 World Championship as the division switches from Honda to Triumph-powered engines, which is set to introduce a faster pace to the class.
Six manufacturers are joining together – and using data – to help drive research into safer motorcycling.
Begin press release:
Six motorcycle manufacturers have joined together with the vision of increasing safety for on-road riders in the United States through data-driven approaches and collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
American Honda Motor Company, BMW Motorrad, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Indian Motorcycle Company, Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. and Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. have teamed up to form the Safer Motorcycling Research Consortium (SMRC). The organization was formally incorporated in Washington, DC as a 501(c)(6) non-profit entity to develop strategies to advance and integrate on-road motorcyclists’ safety through data-driven research and collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
The Board of Directors, appointed by the founding member companies, will coordinate and facilitate pre-competitive research activities in collaboration with the interests of relevant federal agencies. SMRC will also include input from associate members consisting of other OEMs, motorcycle industry suppliers, and technical or scientific organizations engaged in the field of on-road motorcycle safety.
The Safer Motorcycling Research Consortium is committed to increasing the safety of riders through the pursuit of meaningful pre-competitive research and advancement of modern traffic safety. For more information, please visit us at: SaferMotorcyclingResearchConsortium.org.
The vintage motorcycle racing community in the US needs a manager!
Begin press release:
AHRMA is searching for a new Executive Director to handle day to day operations. This 3500+ member not-for-profit motorcycle racing organization is replacing its highly regarded ED of 16 years. If you, or someone you know has an interest in this position, please send a cover letter and resume to [email protected].
Compensation package:
$50k salary
20% of cash basis profit bonus
$600 monthly insurance contribution
$150 month toward cell phone and internet service
Approximately 40 hours/week, not counting travel to events or working events.
Job Description
Job Title: Executive Director
Reports to: Board of Trustees
Classification: Employee
Direct Reports: Membership Director, Communications Director, RR Director, DT Director, National OR Director
Job Overview: Planning, organizing, staffing, motivating and leading AHRMA in a manner that supports and achieves the goals established by the board of trustees by following AHRMA’s policies, procedures and rules. This role is considered the COO of the organization and is responsible for the day to day operations of AHRMA.
Responsibilities and Duties:
Day to day to operations of the association.
Establish and maintain banking and professional relationships
All financial functions of the organization.
Annual trustee election process and external financial and tax reporting
Attend Board of Trustee meetings and Executive Committee meetings
Maintain event attendance reporting
Assist membership office in membership retention
Point of contact for membership on any question or concern brought forward
Work with Road Race Director on creation of schedule and contract review/approval
Work with Off Road Director on creation of schedule and contract review/approval
Work to secure sponsorships as needed for AHRMA race programs
Monthly review of pre-print version of AHRMA Mag with Communications department
Duties assigned and/or delegated by the Treasurer and Secretary of the Board of Trustees
Billing and collection of advertising invoices in AHRMA Mag
Maintain off road race schedule for online entry system
Point of contact for AHRMA’s investment accounts and reporting of such accounts
Assemble annual operating budget
Other duties as assigned
Educational Requirements: BS or BBA. Advanced degree preferred. PC literate. Experience with not-for-profit organizations a plus.
Physical Requirements:
Be able to sit 50% of the day.
Be able to stand 50% of the day.
Be able to lift 25 pounds.
Use computer keyboard and other office equipment.
Some exposure to outside conditions is required.
NOTE: Please provide resume and cover letter in Word or .pdf format.
Jonass and Jasikonis spearhead MXGP line-up as Haarup contests select MX2 rounds.
Image: Supplied.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing has formally presented its squad for the 2019 MXGP World Championship, introducing its riders and look for the upcoming season.
With more than a decade of motocross competition under his belt, former MX2 world champion Pauls Jonass will graduate to the premier class in 2019 aboard Husqvarna’s FC 450 machine. Working hard to return to full fitness following knee surgery, Jonass is aiming to maximise his time on the FC 450 before the start of the all-important season-opener.
Making his debut aboard FC 450 machinery during the 2019 Internazionali d’Italia MX series, former GP podium finisher Arminas Jasikonis is set to show his full potential in the MXGP category.
In unique set-up, the team will also field Mikkel Haarup in MX2 despite being the official MXGP team, however he’ll only contest the European rounds of the series.
BMW Motorrad is seeking a patent for a hybrid drive motorcycle with a boxer engine and a back-up electric motor that would also act as a starter motor.
At the time, BMW Motorrad Australia GM Andreas Lundgren said there was a “very thin border between fact and fiction in their pranks … the concept is plausible”.
He seems to be right, according to these recently released simplistic patent drawings filed with the German patent office on August 8, 2017.
The April Fool’s Day press release declared it would be called xDrive Hybrid and include an electric motor in the front wheel hub as developed by their automobile engineers for hybrid vehicles. That would make it a two-wheel-drive bike.
However, the patent filing is not for a two-wheel-drive bike.
Hybrid drive
Instead, it’s for a hybrid drive bike with the electric motor and boxer engine delivering power to the rear wheel.
They would be connected by a planetary gear system with a torque-limiting slip clutch on the electric motor driving the crank.
The electric motor would also function as a starter motor and generator, converting mechanical power from the boxer engine into electricity.
Being a hybrid drive system, BMW could reduce the size of the boxer engine and appease stringent Euro 5 emissions targets due in 2020.
April Fool’s Day pranksters
The Bavarian jokesters are famous for their April Fool’s Day jokes, having begun running spoof advertisements on April 1 in the early 1980s.
BMW’s marketing department says April Fool jokes are “designed to teeter on the verge of credibility” and often focus on a new and revolutionary piece of technology, but “push the idea just beyond the plausible.”
Some of their other April 1 pranks were a self-cleaning car, remote-inflatable tyres, dog-repellent bumpers, tyres that melted snow and a self-driving car that follows you when you go for a jog. This appears to be their first motorcycle prank.
Two-wheel-drive future?
But is BMW still interested in a two-wheel-drive adventure motorcycle?
There have been several other two-wheel-drive motorcycles before, most notably Yamaha’s 2WD system called 2-TRAC. They used it to tackle the Dakar Rally but it never made it into mass production.
The idea is not dead yet with Yamaha, either. Their PES2 electric bike is 2WD and the Japanese company recently filed a patent for a new 2WD system with an electric motor driving the front wheel.
Other 2WD products and concepts include the Christini dirt bikes, Suzuki Nuda concept, Rokon, Ural 2WD outfits and Australia’s own Drysdale stroker which was intended for the Australian Army.
Drysdale Dryvtech
Rokon
But the biggest hint that BMW may actually be considering a 2WD bike comes from BMW accessories company Wunderlich.
The Wunderlich invention is basically a 7.6kW electric hub motor in the front wheel that neatly fits inside the ABS ring.
It sounds very similar to what BMW proposed in their 2017 April 1 press release.
Wunderlich 2WD BMW R 1200 GS
Many online sites fell for that joke, but they weren’t the only ones playing pranks that year.
Other pranks included an Australian Government law to make all bikes water-cooled, Holden producing motorcycles, Triumph introducing a HandleWheel to replace the handlebars and the American Transportation Department requiring all bikes to be fitted with a $35 limiter that restricted top speed to 75mph (120km/h). The latter caused much angst and confusion among riders!
At Motorbike Writer, we report the news and don’t play pranks with our readers.
This is from the BMW Motorrad April 1, 2017, press release on the “xDrive Hybrid” bike:
All-wheel drive can be operated automatically or manually by the rider via the 2WD (Two-Wheel Drive) switch located on the left handlebar operation unit. It activates the wheel-hub e-Drive system which functions both as electric motor and generator. With the additional output of 33 kW (45 hp) and overall 125 kW (170 hp) system performance, the innovative all-wheel drive system opens up a whole new dimension of performance and off-road suitability.
A new generation of batteries, derived from BMW i battery technology, stores the energy recuperated during braking. The e-Drive system on the front wheel is supplied with this energy and the R 1200 GS xDrive Hybrid rider can use it for accelerating in addition to the power delivered by the combustion engine. Thanks to sophisticated management technology the power is always supplied to the front wheel in the right amount and appropriately depending on the riding situation. This means that the front wheel only receives the amount of power as the traction conditions permit – for example in wet or deep snow conditions. The rider can use a number of riding modes to customise how the all-wheel drive system operates and adjust the hybrid system’s recuperation strategies to suit his needs. Everything can be controlled using the innovative LCD display.
Optimised braking performance and balanced weight ratio thanks to intelligent recuperation and single disc brake.
Apart from the significant advantages achieved with regard to ride performance, the xDrive Hybrid all-wheel drive also benefits braking greatly. Thanks to the recuperation process, which has been integrated into the BMW Motorrad ABS system, braking performance has been improved even further.
This intelligent combined solution also made it possible to reduce the conventional double-disc hydraulic braking system at the front to a single-disc brake system thereby saving approximately 2.9 kilograms of weight. In combination with the wheel hub e-Drive, which only weighs 880 grams, the bike’s agility was also optimised. Thanks to the bike’s positive weight balance, the weight level of the current R 1200 GS Adventure could be maintained in spite of the additional hybrid all-wheel technology.
This bike will get you anywhere, on any surface – even to the North pole.
In the past months the test version of the new R 1200 GS xDrive Hybrid covered countless thousands of kilometres in the toughest of riding conditions. The most extreme demands were placed on the bike last winter, when Reiner Scherbeck, the head of winter testing at BMW Motorrad, rode it to the North Cape on a first stage and from there across the frozen Barents Sea to the North Pole and back again.
Scherbeck: “We were absolutely amazed how problem-free and reliable the all-wheel drive worked even at minus 56 degrees. Thanks to our functional BMW rider equipment, the cold temperatures were no problem for the rider, too. Probably the most thrilling conclusion we can draw from our test runs, is that for the first time we can offer a motorcycle that makes riding a motorcycle a pleasure at snow depths of 1.25 metres in high winter with the new R 1200 GS xDrive Hybrid. Special front section components have also been developed for this purpose as well as high-speed suitable M+S all-season tyres. This was also necessary in order to meet the necessary requirements for high-speed winter operation.”
The new BMW R 1200 GS xDrive Hybrid will be presented to the public in a suitable location very soon. It will be available from the second half of 2017. BMW Motorrad will announce special tyre combinations and optional equipment features as well as the official sales price at a later date.
Police and road safety authority claims that returned riders are the biggest safety risk on the road is a “furphy”, says Victorian Motorcycle Council media spokesman John Eacott (pictured above).
John has spent some time analysing Victorian Transport Accident Commission (TAC) statistics and now claims returned riders are not the major safety risk they have been labelled.
He says this is a concern because road safety initiatives are being directed to the wrong group.
Stats don’t lie
“It would appear that the TAC site has a better analysis than we initially thought with Motorcycle Age Group and Gender as a good start,” he says.
“In 2018, there were 38 motorcyclist fatalities and, in 2017/2018, 1312 motorcycle riders were compensated by the TAC for injuries involving an acute hospital admission.
“Some 53% of motorcycle riders who lost their lives in 2018 and 48% of those hospitalised in 2017/2018 were aged over 40.
“While the numbers of females injured have increased, males are significantly more likely to lose their lives or be seriously injured than females.”
While these are Victorian figures, the state and national stats show similar results. Check out the national fatalities graph below.
However, this is only half the story.
Licence holders by age/gender
John also researched the ages of registered Victorian motorcycle licence holders on the Motorcycle Crash Data site.
He found that in June 2017 there were more than 420,000 Victorians with a current motorcycle licence or permit with the following breakdown:
88% were male;
5% aged 25 or less;
70% aged over 40;
20% aged over 60 (with 4% over 70); and
Just over half (56%) of motorcycle licence holders were active riders.
Once again, the figures are expected to be similar in all states and nationally.
“So while the age group and gender implies a ‘worrying’ crash rate for over 40s, they account for less than 50% of fatals and hospitalisations yet comprise 70% of licensed riders,” John says.
“Using the stats on the age group page, under 25s have 11% of fatals and 24% of hospital admissions, yet they are only 5% of registered riders.
“Comparatively the over-60s comprised 21% of fatalities and 11% of hospitalisations yet are 20% of licence holders, so they are underrepresented in hospitalisations and on percentage for fatalities.
“The lack of referencing to these factual statistics by the various authorities along with the constant referencing of stats for over 40s shows an institutional bias against older riders.
“Until this is corrected and the over-representation in accidents of under 25s is addressed, we fear nothing will change.”
Road safety funding misdirected
John Eacott
“Time and time again the government and media make comments about returned riders being a problem,” John says.
“We are actually underrepresented in crash stats and under 25s are grossly overrepresented and this is not being addressed.
“It is a misapplication of resources and the Motorcycle Safety Levy.”
Victoria Police are expected to be out in force over the next few days as warning to motorcyclists to ride safely on their way to and from the World Superbikes at Phillip Island this weekend.
In previous years, VicPol have conducted “Motosafe” operations around the WSBK and MotoGP events.
We contacted VicPol to find out what they had planned for this year, but they said they couldn’t supply an answer until the end of the week, which is too late to issue a specific warning to riders.
Rider warning
However, riders have complained in the past that over-zealous police make life difficult for riders.
They have reported long queues for licence checks at road blocks, indiscriminate roadside bike inspections and an abundance of speed detection.
Some have even said they not return because of the heavy handed police presence.
So while these events are recognised as two of the major tourist attractions to the state, these police operations seem to have had the reverse effect.
We will update this article with a specific warning if or when VicPol supply details of their operations.
Meanwhile, we invite riders to leave a comment below of their experiences to alert other riders.
And make sure you have fun at the Island and get home in one piece.
World Superbikes at Phillip Island (Images on this page: Jamie Morris/Geebee Images/2SNAP)
Rule warning
For those interstate riders visiting Victoria, remember it is not legal to ride in a bus, bicycle, transit, tram or truck lane.
The only exception is if you are stopping for an emergency or turning and then you can only be in the lane for 1090m (50m for bicycle and tram lanes).
WSBK and MotoGP are significant tourist events that reap millions of dollars in annual revenue for Victoria.
The Victorian Government’s Motorcycle Tourism Strategy 2013-2016 actually says “motorcycle tourism has the potential to make an important contribution to the Victorian economy, particularly in regional areas. Motorcycling is the fastest growing road user sector.”
The strategy has not been updated since 2016.
However, the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirms that motorcycle riders account for about 1% of Australian tourism which is worth about $350 million annually to the economy.
Also, an Australian Financial Review report cited the booming motorcycle tourism industry as being dominated by domestic intra-state bikers taking short, weekend rides into rural areas and staying in country hotels.
“Others do longer inter-state trips through classic touring country such as coastal and alpine roads. Then there’s the motorbike tourists who tour for several weeks or months, either in a tour group or by hiring bikes and self-guiding,” the report stated.
And, of course, making an annual pilgrimage to the island!
If you’re looking to enhance the performance of your ride, WP Suspension might have what you need.
Begin Press Release:
WP SUSPENSION IS LAUNCHING A NEW GENERATION OF HIGH-QUALITY STREET CHASSIS COMPONENTS
WP SUSPENSION HIGH-QUALITY STREET CHASSIS COMPONENTS
WP APEX PRO
The cartridge provides outstanding damping characteristics and excellent feedback. A fully adjustable open-cartridge system combined with high-quality materials ensures optimum performance and responsiveness.
Initially, the WP APEX PRO chassis components for the KTM 790 Duke and Yamaha MT-09 will be available at all WP Authorized Centers from April 2019. The range of APEX PRO specifications will soon be expanded to include BMW, Kawasaki, Husqvarna, and successively for a number of other models from other manufacturers.
WP XPLOR PRO
April will also see the release of another highlight – the exceptionally high-quality WP XPLOR PRO 6746 shock absorber for the KTM 790 ADVENTURE R. The shock absorber is fully adjustable, can be easily adapted to the special requirements of every Adventure rider, and provides a significant improvement in terms of a sporty riding experience. Having accumulated a tremendous wealth of experience in offroad racing, the new XPLOR PRO 7548 fork with cone valve technology has been developed to the point where it is ready now for series production.
WP PRO COMPONENTS are developed in cooperation with the current World Championship and test riders, meaning that all products are manufactured based on comprehensive knowledge resulting from intensive research. Thanks to many years of experience as an OEM supplier for original equipment, products from WP PRO COMPONENTS distinguish themselves with a high degree of quality, functionality, and innovative solutions.
Prizes and experiences on offer for race fans this weekend.
Image: Supplied.
Yamaha Motor Finance (YMF) and Yamaha Motor Insurance (YMI) will roll out a number of fan activations during this weekend’s YMF-backed FIM Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) opener at Phillip Island.
Throughout the weekend, Phillip Island race goers will have the chance to win one of four $1000 Yamaha gift cards, which can be used at any Yamaha dealership across the nation.
To enter, simply head to the Yamaha expo stand between the 22-24 February enter your details for your chance to win. Winners will be drawn on Monday, 25 February, and announced on the Yamaha website.
In addition, the Yamaha expo stand will offer unique hot-lap experience of the Phillip Island with Yamaha Racing Team’s Cru Halliday, made available through a 360-degree video.
Be on the look out for the YMF and YMI grid girls as they head around Phillip Island giving away plenty of goodies across the weekend. There will be hats, stubby coolers, visor cleaners, side stand paddock plates and more. The team will also be giving away limited edition WorldSBK Yamaha gift cards with $20 loaded, which can also be used at any Yamaha dealer.
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